NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the new Global Hawk drones, which entered the arsenal of the alliance, will help it to "deeply" look into the territory of neighboring countries, including Russia.
“They will fly (spy drones. - RT ) over NATO territory. But they will be able to see what is happening deep in our neighbors, allowing us to have a much better idea of the situation on the other side of the border, ”Stoltenberg told the Norwegian publication VG.
At the same time, the NATO Secretary General complained that such drones were not in service with the alliance earlier, which made it difficult to collect information about Russia's "actions" in 2014.
Everything is visible from above
On January 17, the head of the North Atlantic Alliance visited Sigonella’s NATO base in Sicily, where two American RQ-4D Global Hawk UAVs of the latest modification were previously delivered.
It is this place that in the near future should become a base point for a group of drones from five vehicles. According to VG, the three missing drones will be delivered to Italy within a year. A new NATO ground surveillance system (AGS), which will be collectively used by all members of the alliance, should start operating in 2022.
According to Stoltenberg, speaking at the Sigonella base, the fact that drones will be based in Sicily will not prevent them from reconnaissance not only in nearby Africa, but even in the polar regions. The fact is that the RQ-4D Global Hawk is able to be in the air without refueling for at least 30 hours.
- RIA News
- © Valery Melnikov
Thus, according to the head of NATO, the territories of the Arctic, the Middle East, the African continent and the nearby water area of the Atlantic will simultaneously be in the alliance’s tracking zone. A group of drones, he said, will be able to provide round-the-clock surveillance of the regions of interest to NATO.
“One UAV is able to keep under observation a territory comparable in size to Poland,” said Stoltenberg.
VG journalists emphasize that the drone surveillance system will allow you to get clear images from a height of 18 km. At the same time, the drone, located on the northern borders of Russia, over the Norwegian province of Finnmark, can "peek" 200 km inland.
According to British defense publication Jane's, “To fulfill its tasks in the NATO surveillance system, the Global Hawk Block 40 unmanned aerial vehicle is equipped with the Northrop Grumman multi-platform radar technology program (MP-RTIP), which is an active phased array antenna (AFAR) of the X-band with an indicator "moving ground targets, a synthetic aperture radar, tracking modes of air targets, concomitant selection of moving targets."
In addition to Global Hawk systems, according to Jane's, NATO's Ground Surveillance System (AGS) will include “European-provided mobile and portable ground stations to provide data lines, data processing and utilization facilities for multiple deployed and non-deployed workers users. "
“These devices have the ability to really“ peek ”at 200 km of the territory, this technology is unique in many respects,” Dmitry Kornev, founder of Military Russia portal, told RT. - Global Hawk is a drone that can be in the air for dozens of hours at a fairly high altitude. It is equipped with several types of surveillance tools, including radar, infrared, optical. He constantly transmits the information that the ground center receives and transmits. Moreover, the peculiarity of these devices is that, having such capabilities, they can fly near our borders, while the control center may be located somewhere in the depths of the United States. ”
To the Russian borders
In November last year, media reported the appearance of the first RQ-4D Global Hawk drone at the Sicilian air base. The device arrived from California to Italy “under its own power”, having spent 22 hours in the air.
According to the monitoring resource PlaneRadar, American drones RQ-4D Global Hawk recently quite often appear near the borders of Russia and neighboring states. Over the past month, observers recorded their appearance in the area of the demarcation line in the Donbass on December 18, 19, 26, 28 and 29, as well as on January 16 and 17. UAVs took off from Sigonella base.
10:15 Moscow time.
Strategic reconnaissance # UAV RQ-4B-40 # Global # Hawk, US Air Force🇺🇸, tail number 11-2048, callsign # FORTE10, taking off from the # Sigonella🇮🇹 air base, began monitoring on the demarcation line in Donbass. # UAV # USAF # RQ4pic.twitter.com/WdXG0D6xmB
In addition, the Kaliningrad region and Crimea fell into the zone of attention of NATO drones.
“According to NATO, in the Crimea and Kaliningrad region, Russia forms the so-called access restriction zones (A2AD). That is, these are zones where, in the event of a military situation, enemy troops cannot come close without the risk of being destroyed. What is located there, and is interested in NATO, ”explained Vadim Kozyulin, senior researcher at the Center for Political Studies of Russia, in an interview with RT. “This is ordinary military work, what the military are doing in peacetime — they are preparing for war.”
According to Dmitry Kornev, hiding something from modern drones like the RQ-4D Global Hawk is really difficult.
- RQ-4D Global Hawk
- © nato.int
“In principle, defending yourself against such systems is quite difficult, because radar detection allows you to find any objects. But, of course, no one has canceled the need to mask equipment, mask the deployment of military units, ”the expert said.
The Russian Defense Ministry previously announced the formation of special units to combat drones. In their arsenal, in particular, should include units of electronic warfare (electronic warfare), which will suppress the operation of electronic systems of the enemy.
As a military expert, reserve colonel Mikhail Khodarenok, noted in an interview with RT, counteraction to foreign tracking systems has already been worked out in the Russian armed forces.
“There is a whole range of comprehensive counteraction to foreign technical intelligence. Certain measures are being taken of the regime and operation of radio-electronic stations, of the radio masking regime. Certain measures are being taken in terms of operational-tactical and tactical camouflage, ”said Khodarenok. - There is nothing fundamentally new here, only the armed forces will behave in this plan even more carefully, even more carefully. And to take all possible measures to covert command and control of the troops in order to prevent the potential adversary from revealing what they are really doing at the moment. ”